Three former NMSU basketball players charged with multiple felony sex crimes

By Web Staff

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    LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KOAT) — Three former New Mexico State University basketball players were charged with multiple sex crimes.

Charges of criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual penetration, false imprisonment, and conspiracy were filed by the State of New Mexico against Doctor Bradley, Deshawndre Washington, and Kim Aiken Jr. in the Third Judicial District Court.

The charges come after a criminal investigation into hazing allegations within the New Mexico State University Basketball program.

According to court documents, the alleged incidents of hazing took place in November 2022. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez provided some insight into the state investigation into NMSU.

“For the last several months, our special agents have been identifying witnesses, victims, phone records, issuing subpoenas for social media accounts and the like,” Torrez said. “One of the challenges that we had in this investigation is that because we didn’t have the case initially, and the program sort of disbanded, a lot of the a lot of the people with relevant information kind of dispersed and went all over the place.

“So we had to really literally get on a plane, track people down and and fly and contact everyone to make sure that we had a complete and comprehensive understanding of the of all the facts.”

Earlier this year, Target 7 obtained documents that detail alleged incidents of hazing by members of the basketball team. Those alleged incidents prompted the university to suspend the men’s basketball program during the 2022-23 season. Former head coach Greg Heiar was also fired after the allegations came to light.

In the months that followed, criminal investigations were opened by the Third Judicial District Attorney and the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.

“These are serious charges. I think, to a certain extent describing it only as hazing really does a disservice to the victims,” Torrez said. “This is it includes allegations of not only physical violence, but but sexual violence. And if convicted, these defendants face a lengthy term of incarceration in state prison.”

Several civil lawsuits have also been filed in relation to the alleged hazing incidents. NMSU reached an $8 million settlement in one of the lawsuits filed. Former Aggies players Shakiru Odunewu, Deuce Benjamin and Benjamin’s father were awarded the money.

“It sends a message that student on student assaults are to be taken very seriously,” said Joleen Youngers, an attorney representing Benjamin and a second victim, Kyle Feit.

The allegations also drew scrutiny from students and staff of the university and from the New Mexico Higher Education Department.

The alleged incidents of hazing and subsequent criminal investigations prompted NMSU to reform hazing policies on campus.

Torrez told KOAT his office will also engage in a civil investigation. He hopes that it could lead to systematic change for those overseeing athletics programs in the future.

“We’ll be bringing in outside experts who focus on compliance for institutions of higher education, Title IX compliance, sexual assault investigations, things of that nature,” Torrez said. “Because while this is… an important first step in bringing this indictment, we need to have a broader understanding of the cultural deficiencies and the institutional deficiencies that allowed this crime to occur in the first place.

“I’m particularly interested in the the conduct of players and of coaches and administrators who may have known about these allegations and any failure that they have that they may have taken or failed any failures they had in stopping what was going on in the program. I’m also interested in trying to understand what kind of let’s say policies, procedures and personnel changes could be made to ensure not only that this doesn’t happen again, but that there is a clear line of communication between, you know, front line coaches and administrators and senior level executives in the institution itself, because they cannot be in a situation where all of this is going on and they’re blind to it.”

On Monday, a second lawsuit was filed by Youngers on behalf of Feit and two other staff members, against NMSU and athletic director Mario Moccia, former head coach Greg Heiar, former assistant head coach Dominique Taylor and the Board of Regents of NMSU. It alleges similar claims and guns were present in locker rooms, around campus and on team trips.

“Our own investigation indicated that the athletic director knew had some the information provided sooner. He knew or should have known more and he should have done more sooner in our belief,” said Youngers. “The presence of guns in the locker room is further indication that there was very little institutional control being exercised over those players in the 22/23 Aggie basketball season.”

The new allegations are something Torrez plans to look into.

“This latest lawsuit that was brought on Monday raised really troubling allegations about the prevalence of firearms in the locker room and on busses and and paints a very disturbing picture, not only of the conduct of these same three individuals, but of the institutional indifference that was exhibited by the coaches that were supposed to be in charge,” said Torrez. “We will be looking carefully into each of those allegations. And look, if there is evidence to support a criminal charge, we will certainly take the necessary steps to to move forward on that front as well.”

Torres told his office will be prosecuting the case.

“What I’m really starting to believe is that if we had responsible adults in charge of that program at the very beginning, a lot of what we saw, including potentially the shooting at UNM could have been prevented, if we had stronger adult leadership of these programs,” said Torrez.

Washington, Bradley and Aiken Junior are set to appear before a judge on Nov. 22 in Dona Ana County.

Washington and Bradley are facing 13 felony charges that could net them 27 years in jail. Aiken Jr. is facing 11 felony charges with the possibility of a 24 year jail sentence.

Bradley transferred to Nicholls State University following the allegations. According to the school, Bradley is no longer a member of its basketball team.

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